volcanoes

Volcanoes

火山

In the year 79 Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in Italy, blew up. Hot, melted rock from deep inside the earth pushed up through the mountain. The top of the mountain exploded. Ash, cinders and stones buried Pompeii, a great city below the mountain.

公元79年，意大利的维苏威火山爆发了。 炽热的、融化的岩石从地球深处向上推过这座山。 山顶爆炸了。火山灰、煤渣和石头掩埋了庞贝城，一座位于山下的伟大城市。

Nearly two thousand years later Mount Vesuvius still spouts steam and ash. But not as much as it did long ago. In 1815 the same thing happened in Indonesia, a group of islands between Asia and Australia. Mount Tambora blew its top. Billions of tons of the mountain were turned into ash and thrown into the air. Winds carried the ash all around the earth. It made a cloud that blocked out the sun. The earth got colder and colder. The next year, 1816, was called the year without a summer. The New England states had six inches of snow in June, and there were frosts in July and August. That's how cold it was.

近两千年后，维苏威火山仍在喷出蒸汽和灰烬。但不像很久以前那么多了。 1815年，同样的事情发生在印度尼西亚，一个位于亚洲和澳大利亚之间的群岛。坦博拉火山爆发了。数十亿吨的火山变成了灰烬，被抛到空中。风把火山灰吹到地球的各个角落。它形成了一片云，挡住了太阳。地球变得越来越冷。 第二年，1816年，被称为无夏之年。新英格兰地区6月份的降雪量为6英寸，7月和8月出现了霜冻。 就是这么冷。

In 1980, in the state of Washington, the top of Mount St. Helens blew up. Before it did, the earth shook. There was a rumble and bang so loud, it was heard 300 miles away. When the mountain exploded, steam, gas and ash were thrown into the air. The top of the mountain was gone. It had turned into hot ash.

1980年，在华盛顿州，圣海伦山的山顶爆炸了。 在此之前，大地震动了。轰隆一声巨响，300英里外都能听到。 当这座山爆炸时，蒸汽、气体和灰烬被抛向空中。 山顶不见了。它已经变成了热灰。

Lightning flashed inside the dark clouds. Huge trees were flattened by the blast. Here and there the heat started fires. The hot ash melted snow on the mountain and made a thick mud that flowed down into the valleys. The mud covered fields and forests. Lakes, ponds and rivers were filled with it. The mud buried animals, houses and people.

乌云中闪过一道闪电。 大树被爆炸夷为平地。到处都是高温引起的火灾。炽热的火山灰融化了山上的雪，形成了厚厚的泥浆，流入山谷。泥浆覆盖了田地和森林。湖泊、池塘和河流都充满了它。泥浆掩埋了动物、房屋和人。

The eruption of Mount St. Helens was not a surprise. Geologists, people who study the earth, knew that the volcano had erupted about a hundred years ago. And it was bound to happen again. Geologists watch volcanoes for signs of an eruption.They listen for rumblings. Mount St. Helens had been rumbling off and on for more than a hundred years. Geologists knew that these rumblings were warnings. Geologists also measure earthquakes. Before a volcano erupts, there are usually earthquakes in the region.

圣海伦火山的喷发并不令人意外。 地质学家，研究地球的人，知道这座火山大约在一百年前爆发过。这样的事情注定会再次发生。 地质学家观察火山喷发的迹象。他们听着隆隆声。圣海伦火山的隆隆声已经持续了一百多年。地质学家知道这些隆隆声是警告。 地质学家也测量地震。火山爆发之前，该地区通常会发生地震。